Global leader in mass-market telecoms services Orange has unveiled a subsidiary dubbed “Orange Horizons” to seek out business opportunities in countries in which it is yet to establish a presence.
Intended to power Orange brand’s global reputation, Orange Horizons will offer a new source of income for the telco in addition to improving customer loyalty outside its footprint “without the need for significant investment”.
Orange has since listed such ventures it plans to undertake within the initiative to include online stores selling telecoms-related equipment or airtime, flexible travel solutions, and a virtual mobile operator (MVNO) activity.
According to Orange, it will further investigate a variety of other viable businesses as well as launching e-commerce sites that could be extended to “assistance corners” for its customers visiting from abroad.
This would however depend on the particular potential within each country of interest, Orange said.
Other prospective ventures include over-the-top country websites intended to leverage the telco’s existing assets, including the continental web-portals StarAfrica (Africa) and starMedia (South America) and content-providers such as Deezer and DailyMotion, as well as the introduction of multi-country travel solutions – data offers using WiFi or VoIP.
Elie Girard, Senior Executive Vice President of Strategy and International Development, said:
“Orange Horizons is a very exciting project that fits perfectly in the Group’s overall Conquests 2015 strategy.”
According to Girard, given the traditional migratory flows or cultural and professional ties, there are many countries where Orange is already very well known despite not having an operational presence.
“We think there is strong potential to create a new source of revenues in these countries by leveraging awareness of the brand to propose very simple mass-market offers,” he added.
Two of these projects have already been unveiled. In Africa, Orange has launched an e-commerce website in South Africa under the Orange Horizons banner to sell telecoms-related devices and accessories. This coincides with the kickoff of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, South Africa 2013 — a Pan-African football tournament. In Europe, a similar e-commerce site has been launched in Italy.
The two online stores offer high-tech telecoms and electronic equipment, and will soon offer other services including airtime for Orange customers visiting from other countries. Orange said it plans to launch business initiatives across a number of other European and African countries before the end of the year.
Ranked among the world’s top 50 brands last year, Orange, according to the annual Millward Brown “BrandZ” survey, is world-renowned for its mobile, fixed and Internet services in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
